Freebies, samples, and events on national holidays and annual celebrations. 30+ National Days have free samples, like coffee, donuts, ice cream, and more!
I'm not sure if you've heard or not, but Election Day on Tuesday, November 3 is kind of important. We're having an electrocution? No, that's not it. An election! Yeah, whatever that is, I'm still not sure. I wish they'd do a little more advance publicity for this thing. At the very least, it'd be nice if the news mentioned it once or twice, geez.
Even though this year was a bit maddening, voting is important. It's right up there with respecting your elders and always offering guests named Goob a glass of whiskey. So in celebration of every Hiffer fulfilling their civic duty, a few business are giving out election day freebies!
All offers are valid on Tuesday, November 3 only unless otherwise specified! I'll continue updating this post with any new freebies I find.
Free Election Day Food
Boston Market – Get a free slider from 9pm-close with no purchase necessary. (locations) [thanks to the Smart Shopper at WRAL for help with this!]
Chopt Salad – Poll workers only get one free entree, up to $15. Must have proof of working the polls on November 3rd.⠀(locations)
Dos Toros – Poll workers only get one free entree, up to $15. Must have proof of working the polls on November 3rd.⠀(locations)
Krispy Kreme – FREE DOUGHTNUT!! Sorry, I got really hyped at the idea of free sugar. In addition to a free Original Glazed Doughtnut all day, you'll get a free “I Voted” sticker. Now just make sure you actually vote too! (locations)
Natural Grocers – Members of their free rewards program will get a free chocolate bar, along with deals for their local store. This promo runs Thursday, November 5 to Saturday, November 7. (locations)
Pizza to the Polls – Uber Eats is partnering with Pizza to the Polls to deploy a fleet of over 250 food trucks across 25 cities to deliver free food and good vibes. The food trucks will be giving out free Shake Shack, Milk Bar and local favorites while playing music and celebrating civic engagement. They'll be on the road from Vote Early Day on October 24 through Election Day on November 3.
Voters will be able to find food trucks in the following cities: Phoenix, Ariz.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Washington, D.C.; Miami, Fla.; Tampa, Fla.; Orlando, Fla.; Gainesville, Fla.; Atlanta, Ga.; Louisville, Ky.; Detroit, Mich.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Reno, Nev.; New York, N.Y.; Charlotte, N.C.; Raleigh, N.C.; Greensboro, N.C.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Charleston, S.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; Houston, Texas; Austin, Texas; and Milwaukee, Wis.
Free Election Day Travel
Hertz – Get a free day's car rental to perform your civic duty when you book 2+ days in advance from one of their neighborhood locations.
Lyft – On Election Day, they're offering 50% off one ride, up to $10, to any polling location or dropbox using the code 2020VOTE. For the first time, this offer also includes bikes and scooters in select cities. New Lyft users can signup here and get a deal on your first ride!
Uber – 50% off roundtrip rides to and from the polls (up to $7 each trip), or up to $14 for the two trips. It also applies on bikes and scooters.
Starbucks Employees – If you work at Starbucks, then you get a free one-way ride, up to $75, to the polls to vote, volunteer as a poll worker, or drop off a ballott at a post office, ballot box or other official ballot drop location.
Free Election Day Deals
Chili's – They're offering $5 Presidential Margaritas. Need I say more? (locations)
Enlightened Ice Cream – Mention the word “vote” on your Instagram Story and tag @eatenlightened on November 3, and they'll send you a free Enlightened ice cream coupon. (locations)
Grubhub – A large list of restaurants are offering free delivery on Election Day orders of $15 or more. Some include 7-Eleven, Boston Market, BurgerFi, Clean Juice, Del Taco, Luna Grill and On the Border. Others will give free perks, like Applebee’s, Burger King, California Pizza Kitchen, Haagen-Dazs and PF Chang's.
Pieology – From Nov. 1-3, they're offering an Election Day 2020 bundle deal: Two 11 inch ‘Create Your Own' pizzas and a shareable dessert for $20.20. (locations)
Planet Fitness – They invite everyone who votes to come in for a free workout and HydroMassage from Election Day (Tuesday, November 3) through Sunday, November 8. (locations)
If you know of any I missed, please share with us in the comments!
Stop by your local Ace Hardware on Saturday, May 25, and get a free 8″ x 12″ American flag. The announcing press release also says a second flag will also be donated to a local VFW Post to be used for marking and honoring veteran graves.
After creating your card with a custom photo and message, go through the checkout steps to send your free card. The payment screen should say $0.00 total. On the same screen, it asks “How did you hear about us?” Feel free to answer with heyitsfree.net! 😊
Being an entrepreneur and running a business online can be an expensive endeavor! On top of the double taxation and unsteady income, there are countless subscriptions and licenses you need to buy. I probably have two dozen services running HIF, any number of which I'd be rudderless without.
One tip I always give anybody starting or running a website is to take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Throughout the year, I bookmark all sorts of services I want to try, then buy a cheap subscription this time of year. If it's worth it, I upgrade the next year for the same discount!
Below, you'll find some of the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals I could find for anybody running a website. I personally use each and every one of these for something!
Even if you've only been thinking about starting a site, now is the perfect and cheapest time to start!
SiteGrounds' deal is only valid on Black Friday (Nov 23) and Cyber Monday (Nov 26).
Save 55% off HostGator
If you have a much smaller website that you doesn't receive tons of daily traffic, HostGator gives you the best bang for your buck. At 65% off, it's hard to find another hosting package that comes in under $3 a month! However not only that, but you also get a free domain with this, making it the perfect option for a new site!
HostGator is only offering 65% off their hosting on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I believe. To get this deal, use code 2018BF.
Get $0.99 Domains at Name Cheap
While I love NameCheap as my domain registry of choice, their Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals take a tiny bit of work. You'll need to set an alarm for X:59 each day.
I've already managed to score a $0.88 .com name and .org name!
These sales are only valid on Black Friday (Nov 23) and Cyber Monday (Nov 26).
Get $0.99 Domains at GoDaddy
GoDaddy is offering $0.99 for certain top level domains. You can get multiple of these, which I find are great for joke sites or small niche sites that don't necessarily need a .com!
AAWP is my personal pick for the best Amazon Associates plugin for WordPress. It's what I use for the table on our daily Amazon Deals roundups. You can also easily make comparison tables or individual product widgets, both of which are seen on this best fps monitors guide!
Amazon has become aggressively enforcing their TOS rules, many of which are … let's say arcane? Many Amazon plugins fail certain aspects, but AAWP is completely, 100% compliant Amazon's entire TOS. It uses Amazon's API to update prices in real time, which is one of Amazon's biggest demands.
I honestly can't imagine being in Amazon's affiliate program and not using AAWP!
For Black Friday, AAWP is 30% off with code BLACKWEEKEND2018
This deal expires November 26.
Save 60% off Pretty Links Pro
Pretty Links Pro is my plugin of choice for managing links. Remember how many times I posted free Kellogg's codes over the years? I'd go insane updating each of those posts, individually, every time the link changed!
Pretty Links Pro lets you manage all of your links from one, central location.
Without WooCommerce, we'd have to use Shopify, which would inevitably cost more money.
This sales ends November 30.
Save 88% off PureVPN
Working from home ultimately means working from an unsecured internet connection. During a given year, I travel for holidays, vacation, work conferences, and often work from a coffee shop or library.
All those open, public wifi connections are prime opportunity to have your passwords stolen, or even worse. The last thing I want is to check an affiliate account at my hotel, only to have the bellhop log-in later and switch my payout options to his bank account!
Plus, do you really know who owns that AirBnB? Heck, the previous guests could have installed spyware on the router!
Thus, a VPN is an absolute must! One of the best Black Friday VPN deals is with PureVPN. They're giving 88% off on a 5 year plan! At $1.32 a month, this is less than a pack of gum yet provides an incredible amount of security!
Despite the insanely overblown video on their site, I'm a member of the “say whatever you want this time of year” camp. Be it Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or Blorp McGlavin. So if wishing people at your front door a Merry Christmas sounds good to you, sign up for a free Merry Christmas window cling from CBN.
I'll get looking for one of those Blorp stickers next.
🚙 New Lyft riders can use code RYAN285139 to get $5 to $20 off your first ride, depending where you live!
Meanwhile, Uber has partnering with nonprofit organizations #VoteTogether and Democracy Works to register voters before state deadlines and provide free rides to the polls. It seems they'll also release more info closer to election day.
🚗 New Uber riders can use code UBERHIF to get your first ride free!
Finally, always check with a local campaign. It's very common for campaigns to organize ride shares, especially for voters who want to vote for them!
I'll keep updating this post as Lyft and Uber release updates on redeeming a free ride.
Earn Extra Holiday Cash
Both Uber and Lyft are offering bonuses for becoming drivers! Working at your own pace and setting your hours while driving are a great way to add a little money to your wallet for the holidays.
If interested, make sure to sign up soon! For a limited time, the next 1000new Lyft drivers that apply are eligible for a $300 bonus after completing 100 rides!
Ahh, glorious Income Tax Day is upon us with but a single day to spare. I've still yet to finish mine. I've only entered in my name and address on my Turbo Tax account, but the status bar still reads as 0% complete. That's not too encouraging if you ask me. I might just end up filing for an extension this morning. Hooray Democracy! At least I'm a few steps ahead of Homer Simpson.
While I toil away at figuring out which of my plants count as dependents (hey, they couldn't live without me!), enjoy this list of 2022 Tax Day freebies and deals! I should note, you may see other frugal sites reporting additional freebies, but I didn't include those. Everything below are offers with hard evidence for them online.
Unless otherwise noted, these freebies are available on Monday, April 18, 2022 only.
2022 Tax Day Freebies
File Your Taxes – Before we get to the fun stuff, you've filed your taxes, right?! If you haven't, you can file your free federal tax return in minutes with Turbo Tax or H&R Block. I'd start with getting that done before scoring any freebies from below 😀
Applebee's – $1 margaritas through April 28. Valid nationwide.
B.Good – Download their free app and get a free green or grain bowl or a burger, through April 20. If you already have the app, you can still get free fries with any purchase. Regional locations in MA, CT, ME, NH, NY, RI, and TX.
Bananas Smoothies & Frozen Yogurt – Enjoy a free small frozen yogurt on tax day. Just mention the freebie when you order. Regional locations in CA, FL, LA, MD, NV, NH, NJ, NY, NC, PA, TN, TX, and VA.
Bite Squad and Waitr – No delivery fee with any $20+ purchase using promo code TAXDAY19. Bite Squad serves AR, FL, HI, MN, MI, NC, ND, OH, OK, SC, SD, TN, TX and WI. Meanwhile Waitr serves AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MI, MO, SC, TN, TX, and VA.
Boston Market – This Tax Day Special offers a half chicken individual meal with two sides, cornbread and a regular fountain beverage drink for just $10.40.
Bruegger's Bagels – 13 bagels and two tubs of cream cheese for just $10.40. Regional locations in AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, IA, KY, MA, MI, MN, NC, NE, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, and WI.
BurgerFi – Snag a cheeseburger for only $4.15 through the BurgerFi app. Regional locations in AK, AL, AZ, CT, CO, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, KY, NC, NJ, NY, MI, MD, MO, NV, OH, SC, TN and TX.
California Tortilla – FREE Chips & Queso when you say “1040” at checkout on Tax Day. They have almost 40 locations in 8 states: CT, KS, MD, NJ, PA, SC, VA, WV.
Chuck E. Cheese's – BOGO one large cheese pizza, get one large cheese pizza free.
Cici's Pizza – Adult buffets are just $4.15 with the purchase of a large drink. Regional locations in AL, AR, CO, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI, MO, NE, NC, NM, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, and VA.
Grimaldi's – 16-inch traditional cheese pizza for $10.40. Regional locations in ID, NV, AL, AZ, CA, FL, KS, KY, NY, SC, TX and WI.
Hard Rock Café – Sing a song and they'll give you a free burger from 5-7pm.
Hardee's – Free sausage biscuit from 7-10 am when you say “Made From Scratch” at the counter.
Hooters – Kids 12 and younger get a free kids meal eat with an adult purchase of $10 or more.
Hot Dog On a Stick – Free original turkey or veggie dog at participating locations.
Hungry Howie's – One-topping medium pizza for 15 cents with the purchase of a one-topping large pizza at regular menu price.
IHOP – Kids under 12 eat free for the whole month of April, between 4-10pm.
Jet's Pizza – Pay $10.99 for a single topping, eight corner pizza using coupon code TAXES. Regional locations in AZ, CO, FL, GA, IL, IN, KY, MI, MN, MO, NY, NC, OH, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, and WI.
Kona Ice – Stop by a Kona Ice truck during select hours for a free cup of tropical shaved ice.
McDonalds – Select locations will offer a free small coffee. Others will offer a Quarter Pounder for 18 cents when you buy a Quarter Pounder or a BOGO for 50 cents Big Mac.
Mountain Mike's Pizza – Take $3 off any large using code 481658 or $8 off any two large pizzas using code 883457 for tax day. Mike's has over 250 regional locations in AZ, CA, CO, ID, OR, and UT.
Noodles & Company – $4 off any online order of $10 for Rewards Members.
Office Depot – Get free paper shredding for up to 5 lbs of document shredding through April 27.
Great American Cookies – One of the longest running Tax Day freebies, for it's sixth year in a row, is my favorite! Snag a free Cookies & Cream cookie for a jolt of sugar down the homestretch! (locations)
Kona Ice – They'll be giving away free shaved ice again. Last year, in order to find a participating location, you had to tweet your zip code @konaice and they'd let you know the closest truck. You can still do that, or you can use their new Find A Kona.
Planet Fitness – This 10th annual free HydroMassage might actually be the longest running Tax Day Freebies on this list! Offer is valid April 17 – 22.
Tony Roma's – Your Tax Relief is free kickin' shrimp. Your Next Day Relief is not getting food poisoning! (locations)
Boston Market – If you dine-in, you can purchase a $10.40 that includes a Half Chicken Individual Meal with 2 sides, cornbread, PLUS a regular fountain beverage. (locations)
Bruegger's Bagels – $10.40 gets you a Big Bagel Bundle, which is 13 bagels and two tubs of cream cheese. Offer available now through April 17, 2018. You can print the coupon on their site. (locations)
Captain D's – Taxes never tasted this good! Get 6 pieces of Batter Dipped Fish, 1 family side, and 6 Hush Puppies for $10.40. (locations)
Chuck E. Cheese's – For every large pizza purchased, guests will get one large cheese pizza free. Offer valid from April 17 – 19, 2018. (locations)
Cici's – $4.17 Adult Buffet with the coupon from their Facebook page. (locations)
Entertainment.com Coupon Book – Their 2018 Coupon Books are on sale for $10.40 with free shipping, their best price of the year! Offer valid through April 18, 2018.
Firehouse Subs – Free medium sub when you buy a full-priced medium or large sub, chips and drink. Offer valid April 17-19, 2018. (locations)
Grimaldi's Pizzeria – Their Tax Day Promo (what an original name!) is back. Guests can enjoy a 16″ traditional cheese pizza for only $10.40. (locations)
Hungry Howie's – Use promo TAXDAY18 to score a medium 1-topping pizza for $0.15 when you buy a large 1-topping pizza at regular menu price. You must order online and is for carry-out only. (locations)
Noodles & Company – If you order online, use code TAXDAY18 and receive $4 off any $10 or more purchase. (locations)
Office Depot & OfficeMax – 5 free pounds of document shredding. Whoa, are you Trump's new attorney?! Offer valid through April 28, 2018. (locations)
P.F. Chang's – They're not only giving 15% off takeout via code TAXDAY, but it also has the following opening: “You win some, you lose some, but you can always get dim sum.”
Swoon
This promo code can be used online or referenced when ordering by phone!
Schlotzsky's – Score a free small Original sandwich with the purchase of chips and a medium drink. (locations)
Sonic – Half price cheeseburgers all day long. This is advertising as a cheeseburger offer, but the fine print makes it sound even better. And I quote, “Offer Includes Quarter Pound Double Cheeseburger + Medium Tots or Classic SONIC Signature Slinger + Medium Tots.”
Chances are HIF isn't the only freebie site you traffic. One obvious difference you've probably noticed is that I hardly ever publish deals. I don't even think I mentioned Black Friday or Cyber Monday this year and I've never been big on posting HOT coupons or SUPER deals because…ugh. That's just not my cup of tea.
Part of the reason I avoid coupons and deals so much is because I don't want to publish 10 or 20 posts a day. Another reason is I don't shop that much! I rarely know if something is a great deal, so I don't like pretending to be an authority on something I'm not. And finally most deal blogs cover (A) female stuff (B) children stuff and (C) coupons. I'm not a woman, I don't have kids, and here's my dirty secret – I suck at couponing. I just don't do it. Like, at all.
It makes sense that so many sites cover those topics though. Most of you reading this are female and most people running deal blogs are as well. But here's the thing. I'm a dude. Without kids. And that's something I'm an authority at.
A common refrain from the women in my life is that guys are hard to buy gifts for. Particularly me. I find that crazy, because I'm incredibly thankful and appreciative for anything given to me. But I'm always told I'm hard to shop for because I like everything and I imagine that most guys in their twenties are the same way.
So I decided to put together a list of my favorite things just in case you too are having trouble buying gifts for the guys in your life.
These aren't deals. Chances are everything is selling for what it normally does, though I did try to provide coupons and matchups where I could find them. More to the point is that every single item below are things that I use in my daily life and absolutely love. They were either given to me or I stumbled across them by accident at some point. They're things that I would give my own brothers and as such have earned the Goob Stamp of Approval.
Whiskey Rocks – It's no secret that a splash of water brings out the flavor in good whiskey, but one thing I hate is when the ice melts and waters it down. Enter whiskey rocks. You store them in the freezer, throw them in your drink, and you suddenly have a cool but not watered down beverage.
Moleskine – These are hands down the best affordable notebooks I've come across. As I've mentioned before, I carry a pocket-sized, ruled, softcover notebook with me everywhere I go. They have a hardcover line as well, but their basic ruled notepads are the ones I'm in love with. When you have a memory like mine, this is how you make sure never to forget.
uni-ball Jetstream pens – Some of you may remember these pens from a few years back when they were given away as freebies. Well that's when I got hooked – they're fantastic. Though you can probably get them cheaper at your local store. Maybe not. To be honest, I buy them in bulk, but I doubt you'll want to pay $20 for a box of 12 pens.
Tide To Go – I'm a klutz and I hate doing laundry. Need I say more? I keep one of these in my messenger bag at all times and I can't count the number of stains they've saved me from.
Baseball – This is one of those things that you need to buy in a store. But having a real baseball next to my computer is such a stress reliever. I can't tell you the number of times I pick it up throughout the day and walk around my apartment tossing it to myself just to think or clear my head.
Yankee Candle – I don't care what any guy says, having a nice candle around is a good thing that we all enjoy. Whether we're entertaining a lady friend or trying to clear the air after a night of Mexican food. I personally like the Drift Away scent or many of the other wood/water related scents. Try to stay away from any food smells. Those always make me unnecessarily hungry. You get the best bang for your buck with the larger candles since they burn for over 120 hours.
SwissGear Computer Backpack – This backpack can take a beating while protecting your laptop. It's padded, it's got decent storage space, tons of little loops and belts if you need them, and what I use when travel. I also have a SwissGear laptop bag, which kind of looks like a messenger bag, but I got that in a Beijing market. Even SwissGear knockoffs hold up well!
Kindle eReader – I read voraciously as a child and then fell out of it for a while starting in high school. A few years back I had the opportunity to get a Kindle and my world changed. I've read more in the past three years than I had the previously decade. The one pictured above is the older model, which I prefer, however the newer model is cheaper. I actually had my original Kindle stolen this autumn, so I picked up a newer Kindle Paperwhite, which has built-in lighting. My only gripe is there's no buttons on it, so in order to turn the page you have to manually tap the screen and it's not that responsive.
Asics Onitsuka Tiger 81 Shoes – I never in a million years thought I'd rave about shoes, but these are the bees knees. They're extremely lightweight and supposedly made 30 years ago for running, though the only running I do is to the subway station a block away. Zappos has them on sale plus they have a million color combos and free returns. I do want to note that they breathe so well that you don't want to wear them in rain as they get soaked pretty quick.
Lands' End No Iron Pinpoint shirts – And finally we have dress shirts, yet another product that I never thought I'd care about. It's no secret that I can work in nothing but my underwear every day and the only person to find out is the mailman. However I like to actually get dressed every morning just so it feels like I'm going to work and I don't slack off. And Lands' End shirts are the best. You can pair them with slacks and throw a tie on or wear them out at night with jeans. Plus the no-iron ones never require ironing (just hang them in a steamy bathroom if they get wrinkled) and they never stain thanks to those Tide pens above.
So there ya go. All of the stuff listed above can be found in my apartment and I stand by them as good gifts. Hope that helps a few people this holiday season.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed on the third Monday of January each year. It's not a holiday that traditionally is associated with freebies. However, to spread the word, the government is giving away free MLK Day promotional items every year. I still have my door hangers from 2011!
MLK Day Posters
MLK Day Fact Sheet
bookmarks
stickers
door hangers
While at the beach last summer, I could have their free MLK bookmark. After finishing a chapter, I wanted to go take a dip in the ocean but didn't have a bookmark. I started to dog ear the page, but then came up the ingenious plan to make a bookmark! I grabbed a handful of sand, mashed it together tightly, and stuck it in the book.
Unless otherwise noted, all of the freebies below are available on Sunday, May 10 (Mother's Day!). As always, be sure to call ahead to your local store to make sure they're participating in the freebies.
And of course, if you know of any that I missed, please leave a comment!
Bob Evans – Print out this coupon and get a free slice of pie after 4pm.
Champps – Moms get a free entree with the purchase of an equally valued entree.
El Pollo Loco – In a fabulous PR move, they are offering to honor the KFC coupon that many of us printed but were unable to use thanks to KFC not being prepared to meet the demand. Here's to El Pollo Loco stepping in to fill the free chicken void in our lives.
Ikea – Moms can get a free small breakfast and coffee. No word on whether or not you can eat it while lounging on some of the furniture.
Kodak – First off, shipping is not included in this offer, but if you use the code FREECARD, you can get a free custom photo card worth up to $2.49.
Michael's Kids' Workshop On Saturday, there's a Make it for Mom Bead Event (pretty self-explanatory) while on Sunday, they have a Decorate a Cookie with Mom event. Both are from 1-4pm.
Outback Steakhouse – Bring “mum” in and she can get a free $10 gift certificate good for her next visit.
Smokey Bones – Moms get a free meal (up to $20) with the purchase of an equally valued meal.
TCBY – They're offering a free cup or cone of yogurt to all moms!
T.G.I. Friday's – With the purchase of an entree, mom's get a free mom-sized (what the heck is that?) Brownie Obsession or Spiced Up Cupcake.
Texas de Brazil (warning: their website auto-plays some amazing eurodance techno music. Do not go there if you are prone to outbursts of dancing and/or raving) – Here's a coupon good for up to two free entrees with the purchase of two regular sized dinners.
Texas Land & Cattle – Mom's can get a coupon good for one free entree (up to $15), which can be redeemed during their next visit.
